Field Trip Friday - First Letterboxing

My friend Kathy and I decided that this summer we are going to do "Mommy Camps" with our kids. We have a fun summer planned for kids. One of the main activities that we are going to do with them is letterboxing. We got the kids each a picture book to put their stamps in that they are going to collect. The kids are really excited about the summer. I think that it is going to fun also. This is our first summer that we are going to go on a big trip, so I wanted to make sure that they had something to look forward to during the summer.

Today was our first field trip day. We went letterboxing in McKinney and took a sack lunch. Most of the letterboxing that we have found in the area are in old cemeteries. So today we were are the Weir Cemetery. They were 3 stamps to find there, so it was good one to start with. The kids have so much fun reading the clues and looking for the stamps. I think it is going to be a fun summer.

Last Day of School

Today was Miles last day of school. WOW!! I can't believe that we have already gone through one year of school. I am so proud of Miles, he has learned so much this year. I am so proud of him.

I saw one of my other friends do this on her blog last year. He is Miles on the first and last day of Kindergarten.

First day of school.
Last day of school. I didn't realize that he was in the same clothes. :)

Kindergarten Graduation

Miles had his graduation today. What a fun morning. We got to the school this morning and the kids all did a little performance for us and sang a couple of songs. Then called all the kids up one by one and gave them a certificate. Miles was very somber through the whole performance. I think that he was just taking everything in and not sure what to time of it. Miles with Mr. "Mac"Williams his principal.

Miles with his class.

After the graduation we got to go back to Miles class, and have dessert. The classroom was decorated so cute. It was a little sad, Ms. Hopkins talked to everyone thanking them for a great year. She was really emotional telling the kids how much she loved having them in her class. I thought it was sweet. After she was done, Miles turned to me, and said I am not staying for the rest of the day at school I am going home with you. I thought your teacher is there balling her eyes out - and all you thought about was going home...OK.

Miles with his teacher Ms. Hopkins.

Where, Oh Where, Did Our Little Dog Go?

Last night was a crazy night in our house. Troy went to the temple, I took the boys to baseball, and one of my friends met me there with her kids so she could go visiting teaching. I left the house in a hurry, thinking oh we will be back in an hour, the dog will be fine outside, not realizing that we going to have thunderstorms come in while I was gone.

I ended up staying and talking to my friend for about an hour after practice and during this time the thunderstorms started rolling in. When I got home, Tipper was no where to be found. It is not uncommon for her to get out of the backyard when it is dark, but she usually just goes to the front porch and lays under the bench. I got the boys in bed and then went and walked all around the backyard and up and down our street, no sign of Tipper.

Troy gets home, he looks for her he can't find her. We had some huge storms come through last night, and I was hoping that Tipper would find her way home, but she never did. I know that I have probably wished this upon myself. We have had her for 8 years, and we were told she about 7 years old when we got her. She can't hear, is having a hard time walking so we can't take her on the family walks anymore, she won't stop scratching herself so she can't where a collar because she will scratch herself raw around the collar, she won't let the boys play with her anymore so she spend most of her time either outside or in our closet hiding. I have been telling Troy that it is time for her to move on, this is a miserable existences that she has. But now I feel bad that she ran away during a thunderstorm, and who knows where she is. When I was teenager we had a dog run away during a thunderstorm, and I have always felt bad about that.

We have placed ads on the Savannah blogs for her, but right now she has been gone over 24 hours, and the boys haven't mentioned her once. That is really sad, she has been a member our family the longest, and yet has become the most unnoticed. I don't know how I feel about this right now, I am sad that she is gone, especially knowing that she was scared when she ran away. Part of me is thinking - the boys haven't noticed that she is gone. Would it be more traumatic for them to realize in a couple of weeks that she is gone and they haven't missed her, or to find her and have the boys deal with her dying in the future.

Miles Can Ride a Bike

Our school, sports, church and all activities have been cancelled this week because of the swine flu paranoia. One good thing has come out of it. Miles has decided that after more than a year of trying to learn how to ride a bike - he can do it all by himself now. We actually were able to ride around the block a couple of times today. Way to go Miles!!

My First MS150 Ride

This weekend was my first MS150 ride. I have been training pretty much since the first of the year, so I was so excited for the ride to start on Saturday. As this week has progressed the weather reports have been increasing grim, so I spent Friday looking for a rain coat and preparing for the worst.

Sherri has been so great and supportive in helping me get ready for this ride. Here we are at the starting line. We rode for competing bike shops, and got alot of comments about it.

The Performance Bicycle Team was awesome. I was the only new member on the team this year. They were all cheering me on. When we finished the day the walking into the tent, they all clapped and cheered for us.
First stop at 20 miles. I rode with Sherri to this point and kept her pace - probably the fastest 20 miles that I have done yet. But not long after this point I had to slow down to my pace and Rod and Jaxon stayed with me. Sherri was able to finish the ride about 45 minutes faster than she was planning. She did awesome.

Do we look like brother and sister or what?
Last rest stop at 70 miles. We had 15 miles to go, and had been in the rain for the last 5 miles. We going to pull in and let Troy and Ruth know that we were at the last stop and would see them in an hour. Instead we were told that we had to put our bikes in the field they had called the ride for the day. There was severe weather in the area, hail storms and tornado watches. We were then told that we would bused to the Speedway and our bikes would be there in the morning for us to pick up for the ride in the morning.

All the riders lined up waiting for the bus.

After waiting for like 45 minutes for a bus. Going to the speedway a long around way, waiting for a car accident to clear we finally made it. I was not able to ride across the finish line, but took a picture by it. It was a great day and a lot of fun. Everyone on the ride really seemed to be enjoying themselves and it was so fun to see people on the side of the road cheering us on, especially when it was my hubby and boys in the front of the donut shop.

The second day of the ride was cancelled because of the weather. We got a ton of rain last night. It was not raining today like expected, but I am sure that the roads were flooded along the route. I am sad that I was not able to do the complete ride, but proud of what I was able to accomplish. I am looking forward to doing more rides and next years MS150.

My Poor Sick Baby

Drew got sick after church on Sunday and has throw-up for the last 4 days. Troy took him to the emergency room late Monday night. I knew he was dehydrated and we had to do something to stop the throwing up. They gave him Zofran, one of our favorite medicnes. He was so sick this week. He did not move from the couch, he would not walk, talk or eat. I was so scared, I have never had one of kids this sick. He has lost weight and looks so skinny. I think that he is starting to feel better, but I am sure that it is going to take a few more days to get back to normal.